Thursday, August 6, 2009

Woman falsely accused man of rape after confusing her consensual encounter with him with a flashback of a prior assault . . . Get it?

A woman falsely accused a man because, she says, she confused her consensual encounter with him with a "flashback" of a prior alleged assault. And that, of course, tells us something about the reliability of "flashbacks" in rape cases.

A man charged with second degree sexual offense will not face prosecution after the alleged victim recanted her previous allegations.

The Onslow County District Attorney's office says charges have been dropped against Theron Russel Inman. He was accused of forcing a 22 year old victim to perform a sexual act upon him.

The D.A.'s office says it received a notarized statement purported to be signed by the victim recanting previous allegations and included statements that the sexual act was consensual. The woman then told prosecutors she made the statement of her own free will and that no one had threatened or coerced her into recanting her previous allegations.

The woman said that when she made the initial allegation of the sexual assault against Inman, she was having mental problems. According to the victim, she confused a flashback of a prior assault with her consensual encounter with Inman.